‘Scratchers Need Not Apply’: An Ethnographic Approach to the Regulation and Response of Tattoo Industry

• In Event: Criminal Justice Policy Issues

Abstract

As the perceived popularity of tattoos increases, so does the attention of the criminal and civil law systems. With this increase in popularity, comes a greater probability of misinformed or uninformed consumers. Due in part to the inter-state inconsistencies of tattoo regulations and the easy access to “tattoo kits”, there seems to be evidence of a growing subset of tattoo “artists” with little to no training in the craft. These “scratchers” unknowingly violate the industry regulations and in turn seem to affect the business of professional artists. The formal system stays mainly absent from regulation violations, and because of this, a small contingency of artists (and the public) have begun to “police” the borders of this industry in a myriad of ways.
This paper will analyze U.S. federal and state regulations that attempt to formally standardize the practice of tattooing including, but not limited to: tattooing of minors, health codes, licenses and certifications, and punishments for these violations. I include a series of observational accounts regarding the practice of these laws stemming from an extensive ethnographic tattooing project, as well as a series of interviews with artists concerning their perception and knowledge of these regulations and their interactions with "scratchers".

Author

• Jessica Meckes, Indiana University